Quote:
Originally Posted by odamizu
I am curious (and worried). Why do you think Amazon's long-term plan is to do away with Download & Transfer, especially if they are able to deliver KFX in a single file? (Not that receiving KFX via Download & Transfer is a good thing for readers of this thread, but since it's possible for Amazon to deliver KFX in a single file, what is the advantage to Amazon of doing away with Download & Transfer?)
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Amazon's actions over the past several years lead me to believe that they intend to do away with Download & Transfer (D&T). I do not know this for certain but it seems likely to me.
When KFX format was first introduced in 2015 I expected D&T to begin using that format right away. It appears Amazon considered doing that. I found code in the Kindle for Android app that would take a zip file containing a KFX book and expand it into the individual files used for KFX format.
But it never happened. Eight years later D&T still does not support KFX and books that are only available in KFX format are simply unavailable for D&T. I believe that reflects a decision made awhile ago regarding the future of D&T.
In the early days of Kindle devices wireless access was far less common than it is today. It made sense to have a means of loading books by downloading files to a wired online PC and transferring them via USB.
These days Wi-Fi is nearly ubiquitous and PCs have become less common as household devices. Sure there are some people who cannot (or will not) load books wirelessly but they are increasingly rare. I suspect that at this point D&T is mostly used as a means of obtaining copies of books in preparation for DRM removal and Amazon is well aware of that.
Besides the lack D&T for KFX there has been a slow and gradual chipping away at D&T capability. At one time it could be done right from the web page where you purchased a book. Now you need to find it in a submenu under Content & Devices. The ability to download book samples was also taken away. The lack of any outcry over that change was likely seen by Amazon as more evidence that D&T was not being used for its intended purpose. Now KU and Prime Lending books are excluded from D&T. That has caused more of a reaction, but largely from those who were reading those books on other platforms which Amazon wants to prevent anyway.
I may be wrong but I expect to see the D&T feature continue to be available for fewer books going forward until at some point Amazon declares it to be used so infrequently that it can be eliminated completely. Everything they have done lately points to them wanting people to read Kindle books only on Kindle apps and devices and D&T is being used to avoid that.